NIU's Lynch earns MAC offensive honor

NIU quarterback Jordan Lynch has guided the Huskies to a spot in college football's elite. (Alex Garcia/Tribune Photo)

Northern Illinois junior quarterback Jordan Lynch was rewarded Monday for his record-setting performance against Toledo by being named Mid-American Conference West Offensive Player of the Week.

While leading Northern Illinois to a 31-24 win over Toledo on Wednesday night at Huskie Stadium, Lynch completed 25-of-36 passes for 407 yards and three touchdowns. He ran for 162 yards on 30 carries to amass a school-record 569 yards of total offense.

Lynch established career highs for completions, attempts, passing yards, carries and total offense yards, while his 73-yard touchdown pass to Martel Moore in the third quarter was the longest of his Huskies career.

In the third quarter, Lynch completed 13-of-15 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns as NIU outscored the Rockets 21-0. Lynch extended his NCAA record for consecutive rushing games by a quarterback to nine, broke the MAC record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a season and broke the Northern Illinois record for 100-yard rushing games in a season.

With 1,504 rushing and 2,582 passing yards this season, Lynch became just the second quarterback ever (along with Michigan's Denard Robinson, 2010) to surpass 1,500 yards rushing and 2,500 passing in a year. Lynch already has surpassed Robinson's passing total (2,570) and needs 199 rushing yards to break the FBS single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback.

The Huskies (10-1, 8-0), who moved into the top-25 poll rankings this week, conclude their regular season Friday (noon CST) at Eastern Michigan before defending their MAC title on Nov. 30 in Detroit against Kent State.